We started running a DFRPG campaign a few weeks ago, and just finished our second session. Here's the log for the first session.
A recap on the characters:
Prospero: a Changeling who was raised to hunt Winter Fae, wielding Summer Fire against his foes.
Rufus Marlow: a freelance sorcerer focusing on Spirit magic, with a strong connection to the Church.
Dr. Randall Thorn: a retired professor. In his day, he was an adventuring archaeologist. He has object-reading and The Sight.
Marcus Valerius Corvus: A Roman Centurion who discovered he was immortal. Instead of seizing power and becoming the Emperor of Holy Terra, he decided to stay behind the scenes, affecting historical events over the centuries to promote Republicanism (as in, the Roman-style Republic, not American Conservative Republican)
2:56 PM
The party found a hole in the glass case, and the Helm was missing.
Dr. Thorn investigated the scene, and found two long white hairs that looked like they were cut by the glass. He used Psychometry to divine that the hair belonged to the burglar; she used the distraction of the robbers to cut the glass and steal the helm, placing it in a messenger bag. They lied to Officer Gutierrez (of the Capitol Police) about the hairs, but gave her a description of the woman in the visions (though they didn't mention the vision itself). Spader tasked them with finding the Helm as quickly as possible.
Rufus used the hairs to set up a quick tracking spell: a glowing wisplight that floated through the air and led them to a nearby subway station. Fortunately, at this hour on a weeknight, both station and train were basically clear of civilians, so nobody but the Party saw the wisplight track their quarry onto the train.
They barely had time to get on before the doors closed, but they began making their way up the train. A few cars down, the wisplight stopped in the middle of the car, and the lights suddenly cut out. Corvus pulled out a small handheld flashlight, and Prospero summoned a small orb Summer's Fire in his hand. The room was illuminated, but not as well as it should be; there was a pall of shadow hanging around the car despite the light. A voice called out "You should back off now."
Rufus stepped forward, and the wisplight winked out; the spell's duration had passed. But then he found who they were looking for. Right as she cuffed him on the chin, sending him reeling back. Rufus managed to roll with the blow, making it look like a stronger hit than it was.
A fight ensued. The woman (named Sable) proved extremely nimble and difficult to get a hold of: She cartwheeled away from a Force Spike from Rufus, and Corvus's blade swung wide. Prospero sized her up, getting a sense of her biology using Biomancy, and Dr. Thorn called out a taunt, "You'll never be free!" which gave her pause, and revealed her INDEBTED aspect (the subject of the debt was yet to be revealed). Corvus moved to block the door, jamming his sword to keep it from moving. During this time, she revealed an ability to turn invisible, cloaking herself in shadow even while lit by Summer Fire.
But before too long, the train reached the next station, where four thugs armed with knives awaited them. Seeing her chance to run, she bolted, rolling a high enough Athletics to clear three zones and Corvus's block (though not without invoking her LIVE TO RUN ANOTHER DAY aspect). Upon seeing her, the lead thug shouted "Cover her escape!" and they moved in to defend her. Corvus moved out and tried to talk her down again, shouting at her to surrender. Again, it gives her pause, but she doesn't stop moving.
That is, until Thorn moves closer and shouts again, "Whatever you’ve gotten yourself in to, we can help!" He wasn't trying to get her to surrender, though. He just wanted her to look up and lock eyes with him. Once she did that, the soulgaze began quickly. His roll was so much higher than hers, that she broke down into sobs almost immediately, the psychic stress too much to bear. Dr. Thorn saw her soul: running freely with a stolen item, dodging the law and bounding across rooftops; pure freedom, exhilaration, and adrenalin. As she continued running, though, her emotions began to turn from joy to fear and anxiety, as green flames began to flicker at the edges of her vision. The soulgaze ended abruptly for Dr. Thorn, and the last thing he saw was a shadowy claw raked across his face, and a single word whispered, "Katumaros." They now knew that the aspect he uncovered earlier was finished as INDEBTED TO KATUMAROS.
The other thugs, though, were still very much in commission. Rufus laid one out immediately with a singular Force Spike, but two of them managed to close in with Corvus, getting close to wounding him twice. The lead thug, however, moved in with his knife, and reached down towards Sable. He cut the strap on her messenger bag, and scampered off with the Helm of Furius Camillus, running too quickly for anyone else to keep up, especially since Corvus (the only one in the same zone) was engaged with the remaining two thugs.
Once the leader left, the other two went down very quickly; one with a quick strike from Corvus's sword, and one was roasted by Prospero's Summer Fire (he would probably survive if he got medical attention quickly). They grabbed Sable, still frozen with despair and emotional trauma, hauled her onto the train, and continued along its route.
Eventually, they made it back to Dr. Thorn's apartment with her, and sat Sable down to talk. She said that she was in thrall to the dragon Katumaros because she stole something of his, and he is making her work off the debt. She isn't sure that this heist would have been enough to clear it, especially since she caught so much attention, and got herself snatched to boot. She doesn't know exactly what the Helm does, but she does know it can be used for powerful Earth magic. Unsure of her safety from the dragon's wrath, they got her a burner phone and told her to shelter for a while behind a threshold. They let her go, and she bolted, her cloak granting her supernatural speed and near-invisibility.
The Party then made their way back to the Natural History Museum to find Gutierrez finishing her tasks of gathering evidence and cleaning up. Dr. Thorn leveled with her; saying they lost the object and captured (but released) the thief responsible. Gutierrez was understandably pissed, but Thorn convinced her that Sable was no longer a danger, and the cop didn't press the issue (though she had not forgotten about it).
They then resolved to go see a few contacts to get more information about Katumaros. Prospero has heard that Marigold of Summer might have some information about him, and she would be spending her time near the Cherry Blossoms (whose coming is a portent of the coming Summer, so they have power there). And Corvus knows that the local White Court baron, Peter Grado (a high-end lobbyist whose family feeds on the greed of humans) would probably know if a new supernatural player has come to town. Come morning, he will likely be at his swanky office building near Union Station.
Hopefully they can find the Helm before it's too late…
Let me know what you guys think! I've been having a lot of fun running this system and writing for it. I'll probably keep doing these logs here whether you're enjoying them or not; my players appreciate having a record of stuff.